WHERE: Liberty Hill ,TX
WHAT: Grader - Full Stack Web Development/ Centralized Support
SALARY EST.: N/A
She consider herself a Newbie
NIT Staff: We met Marie on Linkedin and followed her journey for sometime. We felt it was necessary to shed light on her will to push forward. Even through a Linkedin post you can feel her passion for the work she does and we thought it was best for her to tell you her story.
I am a grader at Trilogy Education Services. I absolutely love that Trilogy helps accelerate people's learning and benefiting students by giving them the exact hands-on skills needed to succeed in the workforce, breaking traditional university boundaries.
Marie tell us a little more about your background:
I am a grader at Trilogy Education Services. I absolutely love that Trilogy helps accelerate people's learning and benefiting students by giving them the exact hands-on skills needed to succeed in the workforce, breaking traditional university boundaries.
I was a server and manager in the restaurant industry for a total of about five years. At my most recent restaurant job I decided that this was not what I wanted to be doing the rest of my life. I had considered and heard of tech but held myself back at first because I wasn't sure if I was the right type.
I started watching tech-related content on YouTube for roughly a year before I made my final decision and signed up for bootcamp. I decided the longer I waited the worse off I'd be. I decided to try the bootcamp, though I had no intention of finishing. I had so many inklings of ideas for new tech, web and mobile applications, and more that I've been pondering, and I knew that breaking into tech was the way to move those ideas forward.
How did your traditional education (or non-traditional) prepare you for your current job?
My traditional education has absolutely no relevance. I was a music major, then switched to hospitality, then switched to psychology. None of those have to do with tech. Very little of the knowledge I learned at university was benefiting me. I dropped out for good in 2019.
What technical certifications do you have?
What do you do to stay up-to-date on your technical certifications and knowledge?
A lot of new tech is posted either on my LinkedIn feed or in one of the discord channels I am in, so I often go there. I also have my default browser page on daily.dev so I don't miss any super important new technology rollouts.
How did your traditional education (or non-traditional) prepare you for your current job?
My traditional education has absolutely no relevance. I was a music major, then switched to hospitality, then switched to psychology. None of those have to do with tech. Very little of the knowledge I learned at university was benefiting me. I dropped out for good in 2019.
What technical certifications do you have?
I have a Certificate in Full Stack Web Development. Still working on my Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification.
What do you do to stay up-to-date on your technical certifications and knowledge?
A lot of new tech is posted either on my LinkedIn feed or in one of the discord channels I am in, so I often go there. I also have my default browser page on daily.dev so I don't miss any super important new technology rollouts.
What coding language (if any) are you most comfortable with?
JavaScript
What is your biggest challenge working in tech?
Impostor Syndrome is still strong, for better or for worse. I don't believe it ever gets easier or that the impostor syndrome ever really goes away.
[Def.] Imposter syndrome is loosely defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. It disproportionately affects high-achieving people, who find it difficult to accept their accomplishments.
NIT Staff: Imposter's syndrome something our founder discusses openly with her peers. She not only has imposters syndrome she also suffers from C-PTSD (complex - post traumatic stress disorder). Although, she has felt the anxiety of work she want others to know that Imposter's Syndrome is not anxiety or just type of feeling. This disorder can coupled with a bunch of disorders and if person feels they have it they should seek therapy and see about receiving a diagnosis from a licensed professional.
What the coolest project you have worked on?
In bootcamp one of my group projects was recreating Windows 95. Hands down the funnest project we've ever done.
What are you passionate about outside of tech?
The list is ongoing! I love being outdoors, I love hiking and finding new places to explore, finding new Mexican restaurants to eat at, reading, learning about space exploration, finding new topics for my newsletter, watching documentaries, listening to EDM....the list goes on and on!!
Got any favorite tech jokes or embarrassing stories?
I don't have any tech jokes but I can't tell you how many times I've flopped on an interview when they'd ask me a question about react or full lifecycle and I would just totally blank out 💀💀 oh, and I've sent the wrong resume/portfolio to recruiters. That was super embarrassing and no wonder they never reached back out 🤣🤣
What are your goals for the future?
I have a lot of different things I want to invest into my future. The first transition from my current jr web dev career will be mobile development. Eventually I plan to move on to ethical hacking and network security, and then use all those skills combined to transition into machine learning and the development of robotics/artificial intelligence. It's so exciting to think about though there are so many different branches of tech, many of them go together so well and have important usage to put towards future innovation.
Who’s your favorite Tech celebrity and why?
If this counts I'd definitely say Elon Musk. I thought Steve Jobs was a tech powerhouse until I heard of Musk and read his biography. Wow wow wow.
Best advice you have for a Newbie trying to get into tech?
1) Don't give up just because it's gotten hard! Coding and pursuing the tech field doesn't ever get easier; you get stronger.
2) Interviewing is a skill too. Become good at landing interviews and speaking your thought processes aloud. You may flop the first few, and that's ok! Keep going.
3) Do not underestimate the power of networking on LinkedIn. I got an internship from Jan 2022 - Feb 2022 that had no job posting whatsoever. I mutual connection reached out to me and offered it! You have no idea the many different gifts and opportunities you'll find simply by networking.
Best place you would consider for resources online?
Right now I use YouTube and daily.dev to read up on technologies and seek out expert developers advice but FreeCodeCamp is a great resource to read from too! It's super easy to understand for newbies. My other favorite I'd recommend is Stack Overflow for debugging purposes.
Lastly,
Where can Newbies connect with you online?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsv_asinvictory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mevaldov20
GitHub: https://github.com/mevaldovi
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-valdovinos-a616b21b1
Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tech-talk-6891552400495181824
